Without a shadow of a doubt, The Walking Dead has become one of pop culture’s all-time biggest franchises. Originally conceived as a comic book series, the zombie drama story became a household name after the immense success of AMC’s TV show adaptation. The series ran for eleven seasons and continues to thrive with multiple ongoing spinoffs.
However, perhaps bafflingly, the strongest story from the entire multimedia franchise has yet to be explored in live-action.
Amid the continued rise of the franchise, thanks largely to the hit TV show on AMC, The Walking Dead expanded into the world of video games. Developer Telltale Games debuted The Walking Dead: The Game, an episodic video game series set in the same world as the original comic books. The first season consisted of five episodes, which were released between April and November of 2012. It was met with immense success, garnering universal praise and very high sales. It won a slew of “Game of the Year” awards as part of its many accolades.
Certainly, the compelling story and cast of characters helped make the game such a huge hit. Players controlled Lee Everett (Dave Fennoy), a convict en route to prison in Georgia at the very start of the outbreak. After surviving a car crash and his first brush with the walkers, Lee meets Clementine (Melissa Hutchison), an eight-year-old girl with no one to care for her after her babysitter’s zombification. This sparks a redemption story for Lee, who finds a new purpose in keeping Clementine safe from all of the threats – dead or alive – that the two will face in this new world.
In addition to the plot, The Walking Dead: The Game is complemented by its supporting cast of characters, each of whom contribute to making the game that much more interesting. Players can choose which characters to side with in certain situations, and while these decisions will alter the story in different ways, the story remains very strong regardless of the exact paths taken. The separate ways to the end will also lead to, ultimately, the same climax for the story. Without getting into spoilers here, the ending is very moving and a perfect way to cap off the game’s first season.
Meanwhile, despite the success of the Telltale title, The Walking Dead: The Game has never seen any of its original characters cross over into the live-action side of the franchise. The TV show’s various offshoots have given new shows to both new characters, ala Fear the Walking Dead, as well as spinoffs for existing fan favorites, ala The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. One must ask why the characters and story of Telltale’s video game have not yet been given the live-action treatment, given that it has the strongest story in all of the entire franchise.
That’s no exaggeration, though that’s not a slight to the Walking Dead stories explored in other mediums. The comic book series is incredible, and even with its ups and downs, the original TV show has offered some absolutely fantastic television. Author Jay Bonansinga’s novel series could also be seen as underrated, with The Rise of the Governor in particular making for a really great read.
Even so, the first season of the game is still the most compelling of all, and it’s time to tell Lee and Clementine’s story on the small screen. It could serve as a new offshoot for the TV show, opening the door for cameo appearances, similar to how Glenn and Hershel popped up in the Telltale game. It would be easy for someone like Morgan to show up as a way of linking the adaptation to the original show, and they wouldn’t even need to stick around to help carry the offshoot, given the excellent cast of characters the game already has.
Going back to when the Telltale game garnered heavy praise from critics and gamers alike, it’s clear that everyone who played it was beyond impressed with the story. In potentially adapting the game as a limited series, making a faithful adaptation seems like a guaranteed recipe for success. For as popular as The Walking Dead: The Game was in the world of gaming, the truth is that there are millions of fans of the franchise who don’t play video games, leaving them unable to experience the story for themselves. It’s very well possible an adaptation of the game, which would go back to basics by exploring the start of the outbreak with a superb cast of characters, could become a major hit on its own.
With Daryl Dixon coming to an end with its upcoming fourth season, there’s going to be a ripe opportunity for the powers that be to replace it with another Walking Dead offshoot. The best way to go is revisiting Lee and Clementine’s harrowing story as first told in 2012. Whether that ends up happening remains to be seen. For now, it’s highly recommended for anyone who’s never played the game to finally check it out.
